Hands-on with the Sony Xperia P and Xperia U

Sony today announced the Xperia P and Xperia U -- two new additions to its Xperia NXT range, which bring the aesthetics of its 2012 flagship to mid and entry-level smartphones. Both devices feature dual-core CPUs and the familiar angular design from the Xperia S, in a smaller form factor with a couple of interesting new personalization quirks.

We've got early video walkthroughs of the Xperia S and Xperia P after the break, along with first impressions of both phones from Sony's pre-MWC event today.

The Xperia U replaces last years Neo as Sony's entry-level smartphone. Aside from the design changes, Sony's brought some impressive hardware to the table, with a 1GHz dual-core Ericsson chip and a 3.5-inch WVGA "reality display" screen. Followers of high-end Android hardware might turn up their noses at WVGA on any device, but on a 3.5-incher, photos, videos and the UI still look crisp, and color quality is among the best out there.

Sony's touting personalization as one of the major selling points of the Xperia U. The color of the notification light bar at the bottom of the phone can be changed to match whichever skin you're using, and Sony plans to sell replaceable bottom caps for the phone in several colors (we saw yellow, white and black at Sony's event today).

The Xperia P sits between the U and the S in Sony's 2012 line-up. It's powered by the same dual-core chip as the Xperia U, but sports an aluminum chassis that feels great, and fits really nicely in the hand. With 4 inches of qHD resolution, the Xperia P's screen should represent a nice balance for mid-range buyers, too. Speaking of the display, Sony's introducing its new WhiteMagic technology with the Xperia P, which is designed to improve visibility in bright sunlight. Little information was on offer about how this actually works, but the results when the device was placed under a high-intensity lamp were plain to see -- icons and text in the UI remained clearly visible.

We'll be back with more coverage of the Xperia P and U in the coming days, as part of our continuing coverage of Mobile World Congress.

I like it. My next phone in Jan 2013 is looking pretty likely to be a Sony phone. Of course I might sit on it and wait for when ever Keylime starts getting on phones. Hopefully the update process will be faster by then

Android Central keep pressing these companies on them honor the so call Google update alliances

And here I thought 5he Asus Padfone name sucked.
Then Sony announces the Xperia P and U....
Can names stink anymore then this o_O?

I really liked the look of the new Xperia when the first showed it off. Now Sony has like 5 different devices that look exactly the same except screen size n now I feel its worn out already n the device isn't even out yet. I'll dub this the HTC Syndrome....

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